I enjoyed this book very much and it was very easy to read! The writing is simple and straightforward yet rich at the same time - as it’s first person, you really get to know Najwa well and watch her grow. It flits between Khartoum, where Najwa and her family are rich, her father working in the government, and where they are, for the most part, non-practising Muslims.
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But after a coup which results in her father’s execution, Najwa, her brother Omar and her mother are forced to seek asylum in London, where they find their bank account is slowly dwindling and their prospects not as they were in Sudan.
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I think a lot of books with a focus on Islam recently tend to look at the extremist side, or western influences, so it was nice to read a book where a woman turns to religion to find solace and friendship in other practising Muslim women in her area and grow as a person! That was the best part for me, the community of women Najwa finds and their quiet, peaceful friendship.
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Aboulela addresses other themes too, like class, education, drugs, and politics in an easy-to-approach way, and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for her other books!